Just Another Apology
by skyfire146
Summary: "We're not about being together, Danielle. We're about being apart." One-shot of Jackie x OC set in Almia. Their relationship is just another mystery of the world.


**Okay, so in my world, Jackie is a Top Ranger of Almia and Fiore (both Ranger games). I'm shipping him with my OC character, Danielle, who is the Ranger leader of Pueltown, a town in Almia. Also, Danielle had three brothers, Flick, Sam, and Coal, who I mention here or there. They are all rangers as well.**

**Okay, then. Read and hopefully enjoy! **

Danielle and I were sitting on the dock of Pueltown's harbor at six o'clock in the morning, drinking coffee, munching on muffins, and watching the sun come up. Why? Because we worked with what we got and this was what we had. With my drifter tendencies and Top Ranger status and with her Area Leader responsibilities, we really didn't have much time where we could actually act like a couple. If you looked at who we were and the jobs we held, it didn't seem possible that we had stayed together as long as we had. Especially with Danielle's temper.

I had just come back from another mission, which Danielle called another one of "my random disappearances". She always complained about how I never bothered to tell her when I was going to be away. I just forget sometimes. And other times I'm undercover where I can't really call her up and ask her how her day went. But, I had decided to make it up to her by bringing her breakfast from her favorite bakery all the way in Fall City. She had found it while visiting her brother Sam there and I knew it was one of the only things that could neutralize her temper and make her happy.

Danielle leaned her head against my shoulder, sighing, and yet still saying nothing. I wasn't the most chipper person in the morning, but I was trying. "Got something on your mind?" I asked, breaking the morning silence.

"I've been thinking a lot," Danielle began and I knew this couldn't go anywhere good. Danielle and thinking never turned out well for me. Danielle has a tendency to… well… rationalize things. She needs an explanation for everything and often over-thinks things that are really trivial and don't matter.

"Yes," I nodded, deciding to let this run its course because if she didn't mention it to me, she'd be thinking about it all day. This wouldn't really bother me, besides the fact that Danielle bottled up her emotions really well and the next time she saw me, it would explode out. That's why I listened.

"I've been thinking about our relationship," she continued and I suppressed an eye-roll. We don't have serious relationship talks. That was one of the unspoken rules. We had relationship arguments. Don't bring something up unless you really wanted to fight about it because that's what it was going to turn out to be anyway.

"Yeah, Danielle," I answered, really not wanting to go here right now. We had been eating and sitting in peace and it had been nice and refreshing. Did she really want to bring this up right now?

"How the heck did we stay together this long?"

Wow, what a truly refreshing question. It was just like Danielle to bring this up when it wasn't needed. She could be so blunt and to the point sometimes, almost painfully so. "Only because I am such a gentleman. And I make things up to you in small romantic gestures that you are totally a sucker for," I retorted, grinning. That really was the majority of our relationship. I would do something major to piss of Danielle and she would rage at me for a while. Then I would scramble to find a way to make it up to her and end up succeeding cause she was a sucker at heart. Today was just another one of those informal apologies. One in a long line of many.

"Please, Jack Walker," Danielle rolled her eyes, hiding a smile. "Last time I remembered, you were missing in action through my birthday, our first year anniversary, and Valentine's day. You forget everything."

"If I forget everything, then how'd I remember that you like blueberry muffins with hazelnut coffee, two sugars, one cream?" I countered, raising an eyebrow. "Or that your favorite food is a chocolate brownie sundae with plenty of chocolate sprinkles and caramel topping? Or that the greatest moment of your life was the first time you spent the night as a Ranger in Vientown? It was pouring rain with thunder and lightning, but you were happy just to listen to the rain hit the roof and know that you were officially a ranger." I winked at the astonished Danielle, grinning. "I remember more than you think, D."

"Ugh. Don't call me that."

"What, D?" I asked, grinning. "Why not? Would you rather I call you Dani?"

"Arceus, no," Danielle groaned. "It's a guy's name for crying out loud. You know, Flick actually calls me that sometimes."

"I should start."

"My mother named me Danielle for a reason."

"So I could call you Dani."

"No, that's not why."

I rolled my eyes, looking away for a minute. Danielle snuggled up to me closer as a wind came off the ocean, chilling the air a bit. "You are such a sucker," I smirked as she buried her face in my chest.

"Am not," I heard her muffled reply. "It's cold."

"I'll bring you back one of those nice parka jackets they make up in Shiver Camp and you can toddle around Pueltown showing it off all this winter," I offered, suppressing a laugh as I thought of Danielle waddling around like an Empoleon in one of those coats.

Danielle sat back, looking slightly annoyed. "Another reason why it's a miracle we stay together. You tease me all the time. That is, when you're not halfway around the world. Besides, I've got Coal to send me one of those." Her smile turned devilish for a moment. "He actually wears one of those sometimes. It's hilarious. And so much fun to tease him about."

"See? You can't blame me for teasing you."

"I can," Danielle retorted, acting high and mighty, "because I want to."

"Well, okay then," I grinned as we lapsed into silence again.

"You know, Jackie, I miss you," Danielle frowned as she leaned against my shoulder again. "When you're gone. It kinda sucks. And I can't figure it out because you honestly drive me crazy sometimes. You're irresponsible and wayward. You always leave and I never know when you're coming back, whether it be in an hour or a few months from now, because you never bother to tell me. And you never listen to me cause you only want to do things your way. But I miss you. And I can't figure out why."

Woah. She just told me her feelings without yelling at me. This was getting way too intense for me. "You over-think things and you really are way too blunt sometimes. Your tendency to berate me every time I go away really…" I trailed off as I saw her turn to glare at me. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought we were listing out each other's faults."

"Nice one, Jackie. Really heart-warming," Danielle shot me a look, taking a bite of her blueberry muffin.

"C'mon, Danielle, it's not like your little monologue was too flattering," I paused for a moment, realizing that I was supposed to be getting her to feel better, not hate me more. "Okay, you really want to know what I think about our relationship? About why we've stayed together this long?" Danielle looked at me hesitantly, nodding. I, reluctantly, realized that I was going to have to actually talk about my feelings. The things I do for this girl.

"We're not about being together, Danielle," I decided to go for the direct approach or I was never going to get this done. "We're about being apart. If we were around each other all the time, frankly, we'd drive each other crazy. But when I come back from an undercover mission that I wasn't allowed to contact you during and I hear you screeching at me before I even land my Starraptor-"

"I do not screech," Danielle put in, frowning.

But I kept going. "I know I'm home because I wouldn't want anyone else busting my nuts besides you, Danielle. Cause if you don't do it, I don't know who else would. And I do deserve it some of the time."

"Wow, was that supposed to be romantic?" Danielle asked dryly, suppressing a grin.

"I'm being serious, D," I insisted, knowing that if I was going some of the way, I was going all of the way. "When I'm away, doing stuff that used to be my life, all I can think about at times is you and your chocolate obsessions and the way I know the quickest route to your heart is your stomach, even if you don't know it. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I miss you too, Danielle. And I can't figure out why either."

Danielle was quiet for a moment, chewing on her blueberry muffin. "Do I really love food that much?"

"Yeah, D. You do," I nodded, watching her reaction.

"I'm still gonna yell at you when you forget things, you know."

"I wouldn't expect any less."

Danielle smiled, snuggling up to me again. She seemed to have accepted my confession and was moving on. I was stunned that it was that easy. So she was just done talking now? How do girls work that they can just get a response and just move on? I shook my head, feeling like I'd just shared my soul and been shrugged off.

"Hey, Jackie?"

"Yes, Danielle."

"Do you think you could take me out for ice cream this afternoon? Or would that be too much together time and not enough apart?"

Arceus. She was never going to let me hear the end of this. 


End file.
